Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles what happens when you cross a reading obsessed owner with the renovation of a traditional Japanese townhouse? let's find out on today's episode of WAORYU! Only in Japan hey guys welcome to another video so i'm excited whenever i get a tour a traditional japanese home in kyoto known as machiya and that's what we're doing today with lovely Yee and she can point out something very specifically cool about these that we're exploring so the owner of these properties loves Murakami Haruki which is a famous Japanese author and while we're doing a tour you will see the connection between the properties and that author Murakami Haruki to give a little background on Haruki Murakami-san he was born january 12, 1949 had his books translated into 50 languages sold millions of copies and writes with a kind of surrealistic style the first time i heard about him was in high school when a friend had told me he really enjoyed reading "Hard-boiled Wonderland" and "the End of the world" it's so interesting to see that in the renovation of a home you could have the crossroads with an author welcome to the first room of the house guys this is the meeting room now some interesting details with naming there's a compound of three houses here and they're called 1891 and that refers back to when they were first registered they were built before this but first registered in the Meiji restoration so that's the collective name but they actually have individual names as well yes so the house we're in right now is called SANAGI, and there are two properties at the back one is called two moons another is called AOMAME. if you notice these are three elements from the book "1q84" which is written by Murakami Haruki let's move on from the meeting room so cost of the building The compound is going for 288 million yen which converts to roughly 2.6 million us dollars so if you got that under your mattress come get this place it's amazing in through this way is the dining room and it has some really really nice features in here so the first thing that you would notice making it unique as to a western experience is the tatami floor which gives off a really really unique fragrance which i quite like we have an antique cabinet ,we have some art on the walls and a little mini kitchen in the corner now for me, possibly my favorite room in a house like this behind the sliding shoji doors is a reading room and it has some really really cool features in here one of the details that YEE shared with me is that this owner really really likes art and he particularly likes art from Denmark so you can come into the reading room enjoy a book be surrounded by art from Denmark and also enjoy a pleasant view of the adjacent garden that is with this huge rectangular window next to us easily viewable so this is bathroom where you have the bath you can enjoy the peak from the garden and what i like a lot is this rain shower it's kind of rare in MACHIYA and that's because the owner loves it the cocoon room that is where we're going to take you to next and avoid bumping my head so we have retained the original structure here this is a KYO-MACHIYA that not much has been altered to make overly modern but this room is a complete departure from that and also where we're seeing that illusion again to the author that we mentioned so this cocoon bedroom which features the beautiful wallpaper also has the characteristic of curved surfaces all over the place mimicking a cocoon you come in here it's cozy. It feels nice that is not traditional in any way whatsoever that is where, while retaining the original structure of the building the designers have come in and really tried to make it its own unique space and one that i would feel really cozy sleeping in much like if you had gone to a bath house in japan in the second floor bathroom, if you sit down there are water jets which provide you with a back massage how cool is that? once again we find ourselves sitting in a wonderful comfy reading chair The owner really does love to read, thus the connection with the book and so on, so you can chill here next to the cocoon bed and enjoy a nice book while you're reading and then over in the other direction there is some of this art from Denmark a cool suspension and the the colors are really neat i like the fact that it actually like changes where you two sit here It's kind of slowly moving around but definitely a peaceful room whether you're wrapped up in the cocoon or enjoying a book this is the master bedroom we have two single baths comfortably sitting here and that's another reading chair and you can see beautiful garden from the window and here is what i like the most the wall don't make a mistake this is not sculpture these pieces are actually from a roof which is repurposed into the art feature stunning property today i will never get tired of seeing the inside of these they're always so varied and interesting and unique but before we sign off there's an interesting fact which you may not actually know about Machiya Machiya can no longer be built again if they're torn down they're torn down forever therefore if you stay in one or purchase one you actually directly contribute to retaining this beautiful Japanese culture and it's actually something i would like to do one day if i could purchase and renovate one that would be a dream come true i wonder after you've watched, would you live in a MACHIYA? or would you rent one? why don't you let us know in the comments down below thanks again for watching really appreciate you guys that is going to be all for now take care out there and we'll catch you in the next video you
B1 cocoon room reading author japanese art Exploring 130 Year Old Traditional Japanese Home Inspired by Japanese Author | A 2.6Mil USD Compound 14 2 Summer posted on 2021/04/28 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary